"Hazel, marry me?" He said in a soft, charming tone. Hazel felt a little lightheaded, she thought she might faint. There was absolutely no reason to say no to his proposal.
"Mmm..." Her face was flushed as she nodded yes. Even if Joshua had asked her to marry him privately, she would have been too excited to answer with words.
Joshua smiled and put the ring on her finger. He got up and leaned in to kiss her. He would finally get to marry the woman he loved, and he hoped she wouldn't refuse what he wanted to do next.
There were cheers and applause throughout the gym. However, Katherine was staring at the stage in disbelief.
"Is that man Joshua?" she asked, looking seriously at James. Joshua had always kept a low profile, so Katherine never had any contact with him. She never expected that he would look like a face she had seen before.
"Yes," James asked in the puzzle. "What's the matter, General Sanchez?"
"No, nothing…" She looked frightened, as though she had seen a ghost. Then she suddenly got up and said, "James, I have something I need to do. I have to leave."
James was even more shocked that Katherine walked out than by the scene that was playing out on the stage.
Joshua and Hazel waved to the crowd as they snuck off the stage, they had decided it would be best to leave immediately so that they would not be surrounded by people wanting to congratulate them.
As they got closer to their car, Joshua pulled Hazel close to him, he had his arms around her holding her tight. She tried to pull away from him, not realizing that her hand was rubbing against his t.h.i.g.h.
He m.o.a.n.e.d and whispered with a smile, "Move a little more to the left!"
Hazel's body stiffened when she noticed something hard against her hand. Instantly her cheeks became flushed, and she managed to free her arms. She smacked him on the c.h.e.s.t and quietly said, "How did you…."
She was too stunned and embarrassed even to finish her sentence, but she watched Joshua standing in front of her smiling.
He had been waiting for the day he could propose to her for too long. She had planned such a wonderful surprise for him, but she still acted uneasy when she was in his arms.
"You made a pass at me first," he stated with dignity.
"When did I do that?" She looked at him innocently.
Joshua couldn't hold back his emotions any longer, he leaned down and kissed her passionately. When he pulled his lips away from hers, Hazel leaned against his c.h.e.s.t and gasped quietly.
"Hazel, did you prepare all of this ahead of time?" he asked in a low voice.
"Mmm..." she said, nodding her head. "I wanted you to be surprised, so I kept it from you."
"Did the school administrators give you permission to stir up trouble?" He chuckled.
"I consulted with them on behalf of Denmark Group," she said with a giggle.
Joshua felt his heart warm, and he couldn't hold back. He gave Hazel another kiss, he could not believe that she carefully planned every detail just for him.
"Hazel, I'm very happy…." He held her tight, resting his head against hers.
"So am I, Joshua…" said Hazel filled with emotion.
**
Hazel assumed that they were going back to Denmark Residence, but Joshua stopped in front of a large brick building and walked over to open Hazel's door. She looked at him in confusion, "Why are we here?"
"To get our marriage certificate," Joshua said quietly.
He had made a promise to the Crowe family that he would not marry Hazel before she graduated. However, she just graduated, and so his first thought was to marry her. After they had a marriage certificate, anything physical that happened between them would not be considered premarital s.e.x.
"Huh?" Hazel looked at him in surprise, with a confused look. "Isn't this a bit sudden?"
"We proposed to each other, so should not we obtain our marriage certificate?" he asked with a chuckle as he took her hand.
"No... No." Hazel tried her best to suppress all of her confused thoughts.
She had proposed to Joshua, but she didn't expect that he would take her to get a marriage license within an hour. She was completely caught off guard and didn't know what to say to him.
"Hazel," he said with a bit of hidden bitterness, "Are you saying that your proposal was just to make me happy, and now you want to back out of it?"
"No, no, no, I meant all of it!" She shook her head quickly.
"Let's go in then!" A smile curved his lips.
"No..." she was overwhelmed, but she was definitely not gullible. Even though she took Joshua's hand, she refused to budge any further. "But I don't have my passport or identification..."
"I have everything prepared," Joshua said quietly.
Deep down, Hazel knew that even if she didn't have identification, it would not be a problem for Joshua. The truth was that even if she hadn't gone to get the license with him, he still could have obtained it as long as she agreed. However, Joshua hoped that they would have the opportunity to go through the same process as every other couple.
"Prepared?" Hazel looked at him in surprise. She believed that Joshua had got her paperwork from her family, and so she wondered if that meant that the Crowe family had no objections to her marrying Joshua.
"Yes, everything has been prepared." Joshua nodded. He realized that Hazel misunderstood how he got her identification, but nothing would stop him from obtaining their marriage certificate.
"But…" Though Hazel's heart was filled with love, she was a bit hesitant.
"Hazel, you don't trust me?" He asked in a deep tone, he tried to look Hazel in the eyes, but she continued to look at the ground.
"I... No," she said hastily. "But…"
She wasn't prepared to rush into getting married. After she proposed, she thought that they would wait until they spoke to her family and then picked a date.